Method and apparatus for grinding



Oct. 19, 1937. L. J. COONEY METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GRINDING Filed Feb. 26, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 19, 1937. L. J. COONEY METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GRINDING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 26, 1935 Patented Oct. 19 1937 UNITE STATES ATE? FFEE 2,096,424 .METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GRINDENG Lawrence J. Cooncy, Pittsburgh, Pa, assignor to Keystone Grinder & Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 26, 1935, Serial No. 8,265 1 Claim. (01. 51178) My invention relates to grinding and, in parframe carries a source of motive power and a pair ticular, to the provision of asmooth surface upon of pulleys over which a flexible abrasive belt articles such as railroad rails, which are subject is trained. The power source has driving conto severe wear resulting in the formation of denections with one of the pulleys. A back-up fects on the wearing surface. plate or presser foot is adjustably supported It has been the practice heretofore to treat above the lower run of the belt and, when the defects in railroad rails, chiefly adjacent the ends belt has been shifted to a position in vertical thereof, with a grinding wheel and, in advanced alignment with the rail head, serves to force the cases of spalling or chipping, to fill in the defecbelt into grinding engagement with the rail. Fur- 10 tive spots by welding and then smooth the surther details of the invention will become apparface with a grinding wheel. Joints between adcut as the following description proceeds. j'acent lengths of new rail have also been leveled The accompanying drawings illustrate a presoff where necessary, due to manufacturing tolent preferred embodiment of the apparatus of erances, by a grinding wheel. This practice is my invention, from which the improved method 155 characterized by severalobjections. In the first will be apparent. In the drawings:

place, a grinding wheel can have contact with Figure 1 is a plan view of the grinder; the rail surface only over a very small area. It Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof; is difiicult, furthermore, to manipulate the wheel Figure 3 is a partial side elevation to enlarged along the rail so as to prevent the formation of scale;

an objectionable depression when grinding out Figure 4 is a partial sectional view along the 20 defects or leveling joints. In this operation, it line IV-IV of Figure 3; is desirable to grind the rail surface on long, Figure 5 is a partial side elevation to enlarged gradual slopes in either direction from the descale looking toward the side opposite that from feet or high spot being treated and this result which Figure 3 is taken;

'25 is very difficult to achieve with a grinding wheel. Figure 6 is an elevation of a detail; Where weldinghas been resorted to, furthermore, Figure 7 is a sectional view along the line the finished surface of the weld must be pre- VIIVII of Figure 1; and cisely in line with the surface of the rail on Figure 8 is a partial plan view, largely diaeither side thereof. At joints between rails, the grammatic, showing a modification.

same necessity for exact alignment exists. In Referring now in detail to the drawings, the 30 cases of these kinds, wheel grinders have been apparatus of my invention comprises a frame only partially successful in removing surface deit) which may conveniently be constituted by fects without creating other depressions in the channel members welded or otherwise secured rail surface which are as undesirable as the detogether. Corner brackets H have handle sup- 3'5 fects. attempted to be removed. ports I 2 extending upwardly therefrom whereby I have invented a method and apparatus for the frame may be manually lifted. The frame grinding which successfully overcomes the obill is supported on wheeled axles It, the wheels jections to the procedure previously followed, in it of which rest on track rails i l. The axles that it insures that defective or high spots in 53 are in two portions, to one of which, 13a, the

4'0 the wearing surface of rails can be ground out frame 18 is permanently journaled. The other without introducing a steep depression. On the portions 132;, of the axles are detachably secured contrary, it is effectiveto replace the surface 'deto the portions i317. by means of pin and socket fects'ior'high ends with long, gradual slopes which joints It and set screws l1. Handles 18 in the preclude the dangerous pounding action occuraxle portions l3?) facilitate the removal of the ring when a heavy train passes over a depression latter from the portions Eta when the set screws 45 in the surface ofthe rail at a high speed. The ll have been released. The purpose of the dishock. on the rail is thus materially decreased and vided axles is to permit the machine to be disits life considerably lengthened. My invention, posed in a small space. furthermore, is capable of grinding the rail head The inner side member of the frame ii] is to the proper radius. This has been impossible provided with a jack 59 shown in detail in Fig- 50 with the wheel grinders used heretofore, insofar ure 5 for raising the shaft portions i312 and the as I amgmare, wheels carried thereby when they are to be re- In accordance with my invention, I provide a moved. The jack consists simply of a vertical wheeled frame adapted to roll on the rail to be strut carried in a guide lilo and having rack teeth treated. A carriage slidable transversely of the formed thereon for cooperation with a pinion 55 by the motor 21 through a simple pulley 'ingly held on the carriage by springs 32.

2 20 journaled in the frame side member. A handle 2! keyed to the pinion shaft is provided for manual operation of the jack ill. The jack is normally held in elevated position by a holding pin 22.

A carriage 23, which may conveniently be constructed of angle bars 24 and cross members 25, has a base plate 25 thereon for mounting a motor 27. While'I have shown a motor of the internal combustion type, it will be understood that any suitable type of motor may be employed instead. 'Cross shafts 23 and 29 are journaled in bearings carried on the side members 24 of the frame 23. The-bearings for the shaft 29 are mounted on a plate 29a slidable along the side members 24. The plate is urged to the left by back-up springs 35 and is yield- The shafts 28 and 29 are provided with pulleys 33 about which'an abrasive belt 35 is trained. The springs mean's'for the belt 35. The shaft 28 is driven and belt drive. The pulleys 28 and 29 and the belt 35 are enclosed in a protective housing, not

shown.

A lever 35a is pivoted on a cross piece attached tothecarriage and is linked to the plate 23a. By shifting the lever, the plate 2% can be moved to'the right, compressing the springs 3!, to facilitate belt changing. The yielding support for the pulley 34 provided by the plate 29a and springs 31 decreases the chance of belt breakage due to whipping, etc. A latch may be provided to hold the plate in retracted position while changing belts.

The carriage 23 issupported on the axles 63 by rollers. 36 and may be shifted laterally of the track rail to permit the pulleys 34 and the belt 35 to be vertically aligned with the rail.

' A rock shaft 3! journaled in suitable bearings "in the yoke 45 on pins M.

on the outer side frame memberhas a crank 33 and a hand lever 39 secured thereto. Links 43 are pivoted to the crank and hand lever and to the carriage 23 adjacent its ends. Shifting of the lever 33 thus causes parallel movement of the carriage 23 relative to the frame Ill.

The outer side member of the frame I!) also carries a bracket 4|, as best shown in Figures 3 and 4. The bracket has a guide 42 for a vertically movable slide 43. Movement of the slide is controlled by a hand lever 46 pivoted to'the bracket 4! and to the slide. 'The slide is normally held in raisedposition by a retractible holding pin 33a in the guide 42. The lower end of the slide 43 is formed into a yoke 45. A backup plate or presser foot 46 is pivotally mounted The back-up plate thus extends parallel to the track railand is rotatable about an axis parallel to the rail. A handlellB carried by the plate 46 enables the operatorto tilt the latter to the desired angle.

The back-up plate is provided with a strip 49 secured to'its ends and extending about the lower surface'thereof. An adjusting screw 5!} threaded through the plate engages the strip 43 ta adjust it relativeto the plate. The possible range of adjustment is indicated by the dotted line show ing of the strip in Figure 3.

Pulleys Gila are journaled at the upper end of the bracket 43 and the ends of the back-up plate 45. An idler belt 46b is trained around the pulleys and under the plate, to reduce friction between the latter and the abrasive belt 35. The belt 4% may be of metal and the friction 3| obviously constitute a tightening up'rail heads after between it and the back-up plate may be reduced by lubrication.

'As shown in Figure 4, the lower'surface of the plate 43 is curved to conformpto the curvature of the rail head. Longitudinal curvature 'is provided by the adjustable strip 43;

While the method of my invention will probably be apparent from the of the machine, a brief explanation thereof will now be given. V i 7 After the wheeled frame has been placed on the track, it is rolled therealong by hand until foregoing description it is substantially centered over a defect in the} rail which it is desired to remove. The carriage 23 is normally moved inwardly of the frame iii to provide a clear viewof the rail head. 'Assuining that the motor 2? is running, the carriage 24 is advanced into vertical alignment with the rail by the lever 33. is ample'clearance between the plate 35 and the rail head to permit the belt across the 'rail without actually engaging it.

Lowering of the lever 44' will cause the back-up belt 35 against the rail plate 46 to press the 7 head and grind the surface thereof. ,Tilting of 39 to be moved Assh'own in Figure 3, there 7 the plate 43 by the lever 48 enables the desired adjustable stripii on the plate &6 permits 'a relatively deep defect in the rail to be ground 1 avoids introducing depressions in the'rail head; which would lead to excessivepounding or battering in subsequent use of the rail; The apparatus may be used to level off the abutting ends of new rails at the joints; to smooth 7 filler metal has been welded thereto; as wellas'to remove such defects as are seen that the rail contour of the rail headto be maintained." The susceptible of treatment without welding in filler metal. The extended plane surface of the belt which is forced into engagement with the rail head by the plate 46 makes it possible to align rail ends perfectly at joints, as well as to smooth out defects by grinding into the rail head on graduale ly sloping lines. The levers Hand 48 provide a highly flexible control for the grindingoperation. the'former. serving to vary the pressure of the abrasive belt on the work and the latter to cause the belt to follow the transverse curvature of the rail head. Slight lateral movementof the carriage 23 preferably accompanies tilting of the plate 46 by the lever 48 to insure perfect finishing of the rail head in conformance with the conven When a stretch of one rail of the track has been treated, the machine may be tional contour.

reversed'and the other track similarly treated. 1

If it should become necessary to: dispose the machine in a relatively limited space, for exam pie, between a pair of tracks on a long,- narrow cut, such as exist .oncertain railroads traversing mountainous country, it is only necessary to retract the pin 22 and turn the handle 2! so that the jack l8 lifts up the axle sections I31). Back ing off the setscrews [1 permits these'sections to be removed entirely, whereupon the remainder of the. apparatus may be lifted by two men and,

disposed between the tracks or in any other desired location.

The cutting action of the belt may be varied by choosing the proper type of abrasive for the surmotor 21 therewith.

face thereof and coordinating the speed of the I find that a belt speed of approximately 4500 ft. per minute is satisfactory, with a relatively coarse'abrasive surface for the belt. With this combination, the grinding operation is relatively rapid.

In leveling the abutting ends of new rail at the joints, 1' find it desirable that the abrasive belt move from the higher rail toward the lower. As the high rail may be on either side of the joint, I provide means for reversing the drive for the pulleys 34. Referring to Figure 8, a jack shaft 60 is journaled between the bars 24 and parallel thereto, in suitable bearings carried on cross pieces 6| The shaft 60 carries a reversing gear 62 which may be of any desired known type, having a shifting lever 63. The shaft 60 drives the shafts 28 and 29 carrying the pulleys 34, through bevel gears 64. The shaft of the engine 21 is effective to drive the shaft 60 in either direction, depending on the position of the reversing gear 62.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the invention provides a greatly improved method and means though it will be understood that this is not the onlyapplication of the invention, but it is the principal one I now contemplate. The speed and certainty of operation of the invention are distinctly superior to wheel grinders such as previously employed for this purpose and the finished job is much better than can be obtained with for surfacing rails, al-

grinders of the old type. At the same time, the invention can be utilized by relatively unskilled operators and the apparatus is simple and comparatively inexpensive. It is also light in weight so as to be capable of easy manual operation. The movable carriage permits the operator to shift the belt away from the rail at intervals to observe the progress of the grinding operation and thus avoid taking an unnecessarily deep cut. The angular adjustability of the cutting surface to follow the contour of the rail head has already been mentioned, as well as the fact that the grinding surface may be made exactly horizontal or provided with a gradual dip or bow.

Although I have illustrated and described herein but one preferred embodiment and practice of the invention, it will be apparent that many changes in the structure and operation described herein may be made -"without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

Rail grinding apparatus comprising a frame adapted to roll on a rail, pulleys supported thereon, an abrasive belt trained about said pulleys for engagement with the rail, and means for pressing the belt against the rail, said means being mounted for movement to and from the rail and for tilting movement about an axis parallel to the rail.

LAWRENCE J. COONEY. 

